This was not an easy painting to paint. After all of my dark paintings, I actually struggled with this one a little to keep it from looking flat. I realize that the issue came from having a too well-lit reference so I ended up having to really exaggerate the highlights and shadows to create dimension. Painting the wood texture was a bit challenging also. Every time I painted it in with detail, it looked really good on its own, but made the painting look too busy. I would paint it out and it would stop looking like wood. Several thin glazes of detail and white eventually got it to where it is now. I think it’s not too busy, but still gives the impression of being wood.
Despite the difficulties, I’m really happy with this painting. While it hasn’t been delivered yet, I’ve shown it to the client and she was very happy with it.